War
within Islam Ambreen
AghaResearch
Associate, Institute for Conflict Management

Pakistan’s
famed and much celebrated devotional Sufi singer Amjad
Sabri (45) was killed in a targeted attack in broad daylight
while he was traveling in his car in the Liaquatabad Town
of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, on June 22,
2016. Sabri’s relative and co-traveler, Saleem Sabri,
was also killed in the attack. Qari Saifullah Mehsud,
spokesperson for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)-Hakimullah
Mehsud faction claimed responsibility for the killing,
which he justified on account of “his (Sabri’s) blasphemous
Qawwalis” (Sufi devotional music).

In a bizarre
judicial ruling in 2014, the Islamabad High Court (IHC)
had issued a blasphemy notice to Amjad Sabri and Geo TV
for playing a Qawwali during a morning show. Sabri
was booked after one of his songs mentioned the names
of the family members of Prophet Muhammad who are revered
and followed in Shia and Sufi Islam. This was considered
offensive by the hardline and puritanical Wahhabi Islam
that has come to dominate Pakistan with al Qaeda-like
extremism, Taliban-style misogyny and Islamic State (IS)-style
savagery and terrorism.

The slapping
of a blasphemy case on Sabri added to his vulnerability
in both the public and private space. Lamenting the loss
of her son, Amjad Sabri’s mother Asghari Begum disclosed
that about six months ago three unidentified armed assailants
barged into their house frantically looking for Sabri.
Not finding him at his residence they left. Knowing his
precarious situation, Sabri had earlier submitted an application
to Government for security. The Sindh Board of Film Censors
Chairman, Fakhre Alam, claimed on Twitter that
despite the submission of a security application by Sabri,
“the Home Department refused to follow up on it.”

The Sabri
killing is part of the larger canvas of religious intolerance,
censorship and violence in Pakistan. An alarming situation
has arisen for the freedom of artistic expression in the
country. Musicians, artists, and alternative Muslim voices
have faced brutal attacks by fanatical forces. Expanding
their war strategy beyond state institutions, extremist
and sectarian outfits like the TTP are targeting civilians
and worshipers in mosques, shrines and marketplaces.

Sufism
(mystical Islam) and Sufi shrines are a dominant and integral
part of traditional Pashtun culture. There are more than
hundred Sufi shrines in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) that have served as centres
of spirituality and recreation. However, the Wahhabi ideology
of the Taliban considers music and shrine culture un-Islamic
and has attacked 50 such shrines since 2001 in tribal
areas alone, according to Center for Peace and Cultural
Studies (CPCS), Peshawar, Report
published on February 24, 2014,

In one
of the worst attacks on Sufi mosques and shrines, two
suicide bombers blew themselves up at the Data Darbar
shrine in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab on
July 1, 2010, killing at least 42 people and injuring
172. Again, on April 3, 2011, at least 51 persons were
killed and more than 100 were injured when two suicide
bombers blew themselves up outside the shrine of Sufi
saint Ahmed Sultan, popularly known as Sakhi Sarwar in
Dera Ghazi Khan District of Punjab.

In other
such attacks, terrorists have targeted Sufi shrine workers
across Pakistan. Thus, on January 7, 2014, six dead bodies
were found near a shrine in the Gulshan-e-Maymar area
of Gadap Town in Karachi. Of these, two men had been beheaded,
while the rest had their throats slit. On January 10,
2014, two workers at the shrine of Ghazi Shah Baba were
shot dead in the Mardan District of KP.

Several
artists have also been killed by the extremist religious
vanguards of Islamism. Successive post-Zia-ul-Haq Governments
in Pakistan have destroyed music by persecuting musicians,
even as Islamist terrorists have killed many and silenced
even more. A CPCS Report observes that at least 18 persons
have reportedly been killed since 2001 because of their
direct involvement in music. Of these, 12 cases are of
female artists. Most of these killings have taken place
in the tribal area of KP, where TTP once ran the show.
On January 2, 2009, Shabana, one of Pakistan’s celebrated
dancers, was dragged out of her house and shot dead by
TTP’s Swat Chapter in the Mingora city of Swat District,
after defying its ban on music and dance.

Despite
the much claimed “military success” in Swat Valley in
2009, the dread of terror remained. On August 19, 2015,
Pashto telefilm actress Mussarat Shaheen was shot dead
in a targeted attack by fanatical assailants in Nowshera
District.

The hold
of fanatical forces in KP is not surprising. Imran Khan’s
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Government in KP, in a
shocking gesture, ‘gifted’ PKR 300 million to Darul Uloom
Haqqania, the most notorious seminary and birthplace of
the Afghan Taliban, located in Akora Khattak town of Nowshehra
District, for the financial year 2016-17. Slashing the
minority funding from 52.70 per cent in 2015 to 23.49
per cent this year, KP Information Minister Shah Farman
unabashedly told the Provincial Assembly on June 17, 2016,
“I am proudly announcing that Darul Uloom Haqqania Nowshehra
will get PKR 300 million to meet its annual expenditures.”

Darul Uloom
Haqqania, founded in 1947, is the alma mater of many prominent
Afghan Taliban leaders, including its former ‘chief’ Mullah
Omar, who received an honorary doctorate from the seminary.
Currently headed by Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, the leader of
Jama’at Ulema-e-Islam – Sami (JUI-Sami), the seminary
is well known as the breeding ground for the Taliban.
Haq is also the chairman of the Difa-e-Pakistan Council,
an umbrella coalition of more than 40 radical religious
formations, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed’s Jama’at-ud-Dawa
(JuD), the front organization of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

Significantly,
on February 26, 2015, during the hearing of the former
Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto murder case at the Anti-Terrorism
Court (ATC) established inside Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi
District of Punjab, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA)
Peshawar Inspector Naseer Ahmed and Sub-Inspector Adnan
told the ATC, headed by Justice Pervez Ismail, about the
involvement of Darul Uloom Haqqania’s students in the
former Prime Minister’s assassination on December 27,
2007. The suspects who had received their education from
the seminary and were accused of involvement were identified
as Abdullah aka Saddam Nadir aka Qari Ismail,
Rasheed aka Turabi and Faiz Muhammad.

Further
demonstrating the links between the Islamic seminary and
terrorism, former President Asif Ali Zardari, on June
26, 2016, expressed concern over the allocation of PKR
300 million to Dar ul Uloom Haqqania, a privately owned
seminary, from the public funds. Dismayed over this development,
Zardari claimed that the head of the Haqqania madrassa
is an “acknowledged sympathizer” and an “undeclared spokesperson”
of the Taliban. In a public statement Zardari asserted,

Haqqania seminary is known for its links with the
militant Taliban. This is nothing but legitimization
of militancy and the Taliban that will undermine
the nation’s resolve to fight militants to the finish.
Although the National Action Plan calls for disallowing
banned outfits from resurrecting, yet they have
resurrected and are openly promoting their militant
agenda with impunity… is the revival of the jihadi
project by design or by default?

The release
of state funds to private seminaries was routine before
2002. The Former Secretary of Religious Affairs, KP, Vakil
Khan, thus observed, “Before that (2002), a fund was set
up for seminaries during the Zia era and that was from
Zakat, not tax revenue.” Further, KP Provincial
Minister of Higher Education and Information Mushtaq Ghani,
on June 22, 2016, noted that this had been a practice
during the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) Government (2002-07),
an alliance of religious parties, and was only resumed
by the current PTI administration.

MMA’s alliance
of six religious parties enjoyed an absolute majority
at both Provincial and Federal levels after the ‘managed’
elections of 2002, under the Pervez
Musharraf dictatorship. On 25 November 2002, the pro-Taliban
MMA formed the Government in KP, after the alliance's
huge success in the Province, at both the Provincial and
National level. After taking control of the Province,
the Islamist political alliance banned music on public
transport, medical examinations of women by male doctors,
male coaches for women athletes, male journalists from
covering women's sports, and orchestrated the destruction
of the music market in Mingora and other areas of Swat
District. The MMA Governments directives led to the closure
of shops dealing in musical instruments.

In the
wake of the intensified attacks on music centres the MMA
Government banned all cultural activity and laid down
a deep foundation for puritanical Islam and religious
militancy. This alarming trend gradually gathered momentum
across Pakistan, leading to raids on theatres in Lahore
and illegal detention of performers on fake charges of
‘indecency’ and ‘vulgarity’.

The atmosphere
of extremism and impunity that dominates the cultural
landscape in Pakistan has also given rise to increasing
crimes against women and a continuous stream of ‘honour’
killings. The latest incident involved both cultural censorship
and the deep rooted misogyny that underpins this phenomenon.
On July 15, 2016, Fouzia Azeem alias Qandeel Baloch
(26), a model, actress, and social media celebrity, was
strangulated to death by her brother Waseem Baloch in
the Multan District of Punjab Province to ‘protect family
honour’. While confessing his crime, Waseem stated that
he killed Qandeel because she brought “dishonour to the
Baloch name” by posting risqué videos and statements on
social media. This phenomenon of honour killings has claimed
thousands of lives across Pakistan. According to the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) database, a total
of 1,096 women were killed in cases of honour crimes in
2015 alone; another 1,005 in 2014; and 869 in 2013. The
primary reasons for these killings have been alleged illicit
affairs, exercising the right of choice in marriage and
domestic disputes, but the underlying cause, as one commentator
on the Qandeel Baloch killing observed, is “because we
hate women who don’t conform.”

The current
revival of the jihadi project is both by “design
and default”. Former HRCP chairperson Asma Jahangir points
to “unnerving tales of how politics empowered bigotry,
laws were used for persecuting religious minorities and
liberal Pakistanis, and how an easy-going Muslim population
was turned into an insufferable “puritanical” society.”
The targeted killing of alternative voices, intimidation,
religious bigotry, suppression of women, intimidation
and killing of artists, State censorship, and fear of
terrorism have done serious and irreparable damage to
culture and freedom of expression in Pakistan, and have
created the conditions for the further exacerbation of
the ongoing war within Islam.

On July
16, 2016, at least four Communist Party of India-Maoist
(CPI-Maoist)
cadres were killed in an encounter with Security Force
(SF) personnel in the forests of Bijapur District. SFs
recovered four bodies along with rifles, pipe bombs and
other supplies during an area search operation. Commenting
on the operation, Bastar Range Inspector General of Police
(IGP) S.R.P. Kalluri disclosed that a joint force led
by Laxman Kewat, Inspector-in-Charge Awapalli Police Station
and Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) Commander
Ashok Kumar carried out the encounter in the forests of
Pamed in Bijapur District.

At least
two unidentified CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an intelligence
based operation on the bank of the Indravati River in
Bastar District on July 13, 2016, according to Bastar
Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Vijay Pande.
However, the Police could not recover any bodies. The
joint Police team of the Special Task Force (STF) and
District Reserve Guard (DRG) also destroyed a boat belonging
to the Maoists which was hidden near the river.

Three days
earlier, on July 10, 2016, four Maoists were killed in
an encounter with the Police in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur
District. Giving details about the incident, S.R.P. Kalluri,
IGP, Bastar Range, noted, “An encounter took place near
Tumnar village of Bijapur District late last night. The
spot of the encounter is around five kilometers from Bijapur.
Four dead bodies of Maoists have been recovered so far
from the spot. The number of Maoists killed is likely
to go up.” One 9 mm pistol was also recovered from the
encounter spot. Two out of the four dead Maoists were
identified as Ukesh, the Local Guerrilla Squad (LGS) ‘commander’
in the Gangaloor area, and Raju, the ‘section commander’
of the CPI-Maoist’s Company No.2.

Earlier,
on June 28, 2016, three Maoists were killed in an encounter
with SF personnel at Badesatti village near Bandem under
Gadiras Police Station limits in Sukma District. ‘Tiffin
bombs’ [IED’s packed into Tiffin boxes] and other Maoist-related
items were found from the spot.

These are
not isolated incidents. Rather they reflect the growing
consolidation of the SFs against the Maoists over a period
of time. It is crucial to note here that SF personnel
have achieved considerable success
against the Maoists in Chhattisgarh, particularly since
October 2015. These incidents only carry forward the past
momentum.

The Maoists
are facing a challenging time across all theatres of conflict
in India,
but the pressure
on them in their own backyard – Chhattisgarh
– is the most significant SF gain.

According
to the South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP) database,
118 people including 26 civilians, 22 SF personnel and
70 Maoists, have been killed
in Chhattisgarh in 2016 (till July 17), in comparison
to 67 persons, including 16 civilians, 33 SF personnel
and 18 Maoists, killed in the corresponding period of
2015.

Half-Yearly
CPI-Maoist linked Fatality in Chhattisgarh: 2011-2016

Year

Civilian

SF

CPI-Maoist

Total

2011

11

42

58

111

2012

18

26

24

68

2013

43

26

24

93

2014

18

33

15

66

2015

16

33

18

67

2016

26

22

70

118

Total

132

182

209

523

*Data
updated till July 17, 2016

As reflected
from the data, the first half of 2016 has recorded the
lowest number of SF deaths and the maximum number of Maoist
casualty in five and a half years. The neutralization
of the Maoists in 2016 has seen a staggering growth of
388.88 per cent growth against the 2015 figure.

Significantly,
this success comes on two fronts: firstly, the SFs neutralised
more Maoists at a ratio never seen in the last five and
half years; more importantly the lowest SF fatalities
have been recorded since 2011. What is disturbing, however,
here is that civilian killings by the Maoists have seen
a spike, registering their highest numbers in 2016, with
the exception of 2013.

SF personnel
also arrested 257 Maoists in 2016, till July 17, as against
221 arrests through 2015. Moreover, the surrender of 596
Maoists thus far in 2016 in comparison to 279 in 2015
will also go a long way in demoralizing and weakening
the ultras.

Crucially,
in the worst case scenario for the Maoists, the local
support that they enjoyed in what have for long been their
‘heartland’ areas, is also dwindling. Between March and
May 2016, locals in Sukma District decided to oppose Maoist
atrocities. Armed with bows and arrows and other traditional
weapons, youth in the area have been patrolling the peripheral
areas of their villages throughout the night to ban the
entry of Maoists. The practice started in Kumakoleng and
Nama villages under the Kumakoleng gram panchayat
(village level local self government institution). Aayta
Karma, a resident of Nama village stated, "We were
disturbed with the Maoists' act of obstructing development
which had resulted in lack of power supply and no proper
road connectivity in our villages. In the name of police
informers, innocent villagers have been killed."

Despite
these reverses, rebel violence continues. On July 4, 2016
for instance, an Assistant Constable of Chhattisgarh Police,
identified as Tirupati, was killed by Maoists in Bijapur
District while he was returning to the Police camp after
having a meal at home. On the same day an Assistant Constable,
identified as Madkam Ganga, was picked up from a bus on
the Jagargunda-Dornapal road in Sukma District by around
40 Maoists. The whereabouts of the Assistant Constable
are not known.

Apart from
killings, the Maoists have also been involved in other
patterns of violence, including Improvised Explosive Device
(IED) blasts. In 2016, 27 such explosions
have been orchestrated, adding to 33 in 2015. Commenting
on the growing number of IED blasts, a senior Police officer
on March 24, 2016, observed that the Maoists had revised
their strategy, choosing IED attacks over guerrilla warfare
to target SF personnel. The official added "Maoists
have upgraded their insurgency level by moving over to
guerrilla warfare from blast attack nearly 5-6 years ago.
They seem to have scaled down their insurgency level now
by reverting back to the primary level of insurgency in
which Security Forces are targeted with IED attacks."

In a disturbing
turn of events, several local body representatives and
workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have
resigned in Bijapur District in the recent past, allegedly
due to threats and pressure from the Maoists. G. Venkat,
Bijapur District President of BJP, stated on July 14,
2016, “I have received 27 resignations of local body representatives
and party workers from various blocks of Bijapur District
in the last one month. Some said they were resigning due
to personal reasons while others claimed that the unstable
situation in the region forced them to submit resignations.
However, we know the resignations are due to pressure
and threats from Maoists.” The series of resignations
followed the killing of Ramsay Majji, a BJP Zilla Panchayat
(District level local self government institution) member,
by Maoists on June 10, 2016, near Sangampalli village
in Bijapur District. Bijapur Superintendent of Police
(SP) K.L. Dhruv confirmed that the resignations were due
to Maoist threats.

Occasional
errors by the SFs persist, despite major gains over the
years. In a bizarre incident on May 18, 2016, a "suspected"
Maoist, identified as Markam Deva, who came to surrender
at a Police Station in Bijapur District, fled with sophisticated
weapons. Deva expressed his wish to surrender at the Basaguda
Police Station and fled moments after being interrogated
by officials. Bijapur SP K.L. Dhruv disclosed that, "During
the break in the interrogation that we usually do for
any rebel ahead of their surrender process, Deva, who
claimed himself as a Maoist, fled from the thana
carrying one AK-47, 90 live cartridges, one Under Barrel
Grenade Launcher (UBGL) and around 10 grenades,"
There were at least 50 Policemen in the Police Station
when the 23-year-old man escaped.

Chhattisgarh
has witnessed 11 major incidents (each involving three
or more fatalities) in 2016 (till July 17) in which 10
SF personnel and 38 Maoists have been killed in comparison
to nine major incidents in which 19 SF personnel and 16
Maoists were killed in 2015. The major incidents of 2016
in Chhattisgarh are as under:

July 16:
At least four CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter
with SF personnel in the forests of the Bijapur District.

July 10:
Four suspected CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter
with the Police in the Bijapur District.

June 28:
Three CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter with
SF personnel in the Sukma District.

April 15:
Three CPI-Maoist cadres, including a 'Commander', were
killed while planting a bomb in the Koyalibeda area in
Kanker District of Chhattisgarh during the Dandakaranya
bandh (shut down strike) called by the CPI-Maoist.

March 30:
Seven troopers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
were killed in a landmine explosion triggered by the CPI-Maoist
cadres in Dantewada District. A vehicle carrying personnel
of CRPF's 230th battalion belonging to the
Ghusaras CRPF camp in Dantewada, were returning after
leave for Holi, was blown up near the Malewara market
on the Dantewada-Sukma Road.

March 29:
Three CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter with
the SF personnel in Narayanpur District of Chhattisgarh.

March 3-4:
Three troopers of CoBRA were killed and at least 15 were
injured in an encounter with CPI-Maoist cadres in Sukma
District.

March 1:
At least eight members of the CPI-Maoist Venkatapuram
'area committee' were killed in an encounter with SF personnel
along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border in Sukma District.

February
13: Three Maoists were killed in an encounter with SF
personnel at Sendra village in Bijapur District.

January
27: Three CPI-Maoist cadres, who were allegedly involved
in the Jiram
Valley attack on Congress leaders
in Bastar District on May 25, 2013, were killed in an
encounter with SF personnel at Metapal village in Dantewada
District.

January
15: Four CPI-Maoist cadres were killed in an encounter
with the DRG of Bijapur District.

Further,
in an indication towards a dangerous turn of events, CRPF
Director General (DG) K. Durga Prasad while commenting
on March 31, 2016, on the killing of seven CRPF troopers
in Dantewada District on March 30, observed, "A surprise
movement was under way and it was being done in a secret
way. I don't know how the news got leaked [to Maoists].
The way the incident happened, it is clear that someone
gave specific inputs [to Maoists]. We will investigate
to find out what went wrong."

SFs have
made tremendous advances in their campaigns against the
Maoists over the last nine months, despite some setbacks.
Sustaining the tempo, augmenting capacities and intelligence
flows, and consolidating the major gains of the recent
past will be key to ensuring that the Maoists are not
able to regroup and revive their movement.

NEWS
BRIEFS

Weekly Fatalities: Major
Conflicts in South Asia July
11-17, 2016

Civilians

Security
Force Personnel

Terrorists/Insurgents

Total

INDIA

Assam

0

0

4

4

Jammu and
Kashmir

1

1

5

7

Left-Wing
Extremism

Chhattisgarh

0

0

4

4

Jharkhand

0

1

0

1

Total (INDIA)

1

2

13

16

PAKISTAN

Balochistan

0

0

1

1

FATA

1

0

2

3

Punjab

0

0

6

6

Sindh

1

0

0

1

Total (PAKISTAN)

2

0

9

11

Provisional
data compiled from English language media sources.

BANGLADESH

Various
plots
are
there
to
carry
out
more
terrorist
attacks
in
the
country,
says
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina:
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
on
July
13
said
that
various
plots
are
there
to
carry
out
more
terrorist
attacks
in
the
country.
“We
have
intelligence
reports
that
the
terrorists
have
planned
to
launch
more
attacks.
We
have
to
keep
in
mind
that
this
will
not
stop
here.
There
are
many
kinds
of
plots.
We
are
collecting
reports
of
various
intelligence
agencies
at
home
and
abroad,”
she
said.
The
Daily
Star,
July
14,
2016.

Prime
Minister
urges
all
parents
to
be
vigilant
about
movements
of
their
children
to
prevent
them
from
being
radicalized:
Prime
Minister
Sheikh
Hasina
giving
instruction
to
a
cross-section
of
people
to
remain
vigilant
against
militancy,
from
her
official
residence
in
Dhaka
city
on
July
12
urged
all
parents
to
be
vigilant
about
the
movements
of
their
children
to
prevent
them
from
being
radicalized.
“The
people
of
the
country
are
pious,
but
not
bigots.
I
simply
cannot
understand
why
their
children
who
are
receiving
education
in
reputed
schools
and
colleges
and
English
medium
institutions
are
turning
into
bigots.
We
don't
want
these
students
to
lay
down
their
valuable
lives
indiscriminately
after
getting
derailed
from
the
right
path.
We
won't
allow
emergence
of
militancy
in
the
country.
We
don't
want
Bangladesh
to
be
the
land
of
militancy…we'll
have
to
take
some
measurers
keeping
this
view
in
mind,”
she
asserted.
The
Daily
Star,
July
14,
2016.

INDIA

Keep
politics
aside
in
tackling
terrorism,
says
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi:
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
addressing
Chief
Ministers
at
a
day-long
meeting
of
the
Inter-State
Council
on
July
16
said
that
keep
politics
aside
in
tackling
terrorism.
Modi
said
“We
have
to
remain
alert
and
updated
always.
With
close
cooperation,
we
will
not
only
strengthen
the
Centre-State
relations
but
make
a
better
future
for
the
citizens.”
He
urged
all
concerned
to
keep
politics
aside
and
keep
national
security
paramount.
Daily Excelsior,
July
17,
2016.

Terror
has
claimed
lives
of
707
Indians
since
2005,
says
UMHA
data:
The
Central
Government
released
a
data
on
a
string
of
terror
strikes
in
India
since
2005
that
claimed
at
least
707
innocent
lives
and
left
over
3,200
injured.
The
data,
released
by
the
Union
Ministry
of
Home
Affairs
(UMHA)
in
response
to
Hathras-based
RTI
(Right
to
Information)
activist
Gaurav
Agrawal,
included
the
terrorist
attack
at
Pathankot
in
Punjab
on
January
2,
2016
in
which
seven
security
personnel
besides
a
civilian
were
killed
and
37
others
injured.
Times
of
India,
July
16,
2016.

IS
may
have
set
up
sleeper
cells
in
India,
states
Iraqi
Ambassador
to
India,
Fakhri
Hassan
Al
Issa:
The
Islamic
State
(IS)
may
have
set
up
sleeper
cells
in
India
owing
to
the
influence
of
foreign-funded
Islamic
seminaries
and
preachers
who
teach
an
exclusivist
version
of
Islam,
says
Fakhri
Hassan
Al
Issa,
the
Iraqi
Ambassador
to
India.
Highlighting
growing
radicalisation
in
South
Asia,
Fakhri
told
that
India
should
watch
the
Islamic
seminaries
and
preachers
more
closely
to
understand
“what
kind
of
Islam”
they
were
preaching.
The Hindu,
July
15,
2016.

Pakistan
provides
sanctuary
to
UN-designated
terrorists,
asserts
India:
India
on
July
14,
slammed
Pakistan’s
attempts
to
put
it
in
the
dock
for
alleged
human
rights
violations
in
Kashmir,
describing
Pakistan
as
a
country
that
“extols
the
virtues
of
terrorists
and
that
provides
sanctuary
to
UN-designated
terrorists”.
India’s
permanent
representative
to
the
UN
Syed
Akbaruddin
told
the
United
Nations
(UN)
that
Pakistan
“uses
terrorism
as
state
policy.”
Livemint,
July
15,
2016.

'North
East
security
scenario
improved',
says
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Affairs
Kiren
Rijiju:
Union
Minister
of
State
for
Home
Affairs
Kiren
Rijiju
on
July
13
asserted
that
the
overall
security
scenario
in
the
North
East
has
improved
since
2014.
He
announced
that
the
target
of
his
Ministry
is
to
secure
complete
peace
in
the
region
so
that
development
is
expedited
here
(North
East).
Rijiju
revealed
that
the
entire
international
border
that
Assam
shares
with
Bangladesh
will
be
sealed
by
2017.
Assam Tribune,
July
14,
2016.

Kashmir
is
an
internal
matter
of
India,
says
US:
US
said
that
Kashmir
is
an
internal
matter
of
India.
“We
have
seen
reports
of
the
clashes
between
protesters
and
Indian
forces
in
Kashmir,
and
are
concerned
by
the
violence.
We
encourage
all
sides
to
make
efforts
towards
finding
a
peaceful
resolution.
This
is
an
internal
matter
for
the
Government
of
India,”
a
State
Department
spokesman
said.
Daily Excelsior,
July
13,
2016.

NEPAL

CPN-UML
decides
to
face
a
no-confidence
vote
registered
against
its
leader
Prime
Minister
KP
Sharma
Oli
at
Parliament:
The
Communist
Party
of
Nepal-Unified
Marxist
Leninist
(CPN-UML)
on
July
14
decided
to
face
a
no-confidence
vote
registered
against
its
leader
Prime
Minister
KP
Sharma
Oli
at
the
Parliament.
A
Parliamentary
Party
(PP)
meeting
held
in
Naya
Baneshwor
of
Kathmandu
made
a
decision
to
this
effect.
The
PP
leader
and
Prime
Minister
Oli
during
the
meeting
had
directed
lawmakers
of
his
party
to
take
the
fresh
political
developments
easily.
The Himalayan
Times,
July
15,
2016.

PAKISTAN

Posters
calling
for
military
coup
crop
up
across
13
Pakistani
cities:
A
poster
campaign
across
Pakistani
cities
urging
Chief
of
Army
Staff
(CoAS)
General
Raheel
Sharif
to
impose
martial
law
and
form
a
Government
of
technocrats
has
been
launched.
The
posters
appeared
on
major
thoroughfares
in
at
least
13
cities,
including
Islamabad,
Lahore,
Karachi
and
Rawalpindi,
Peshawar,
Quetta,
Faisalabad,
Sargodha
and
Hyderabad,
besides
several
cantonment
areas,
urging
the
general
to
take
over.
Move
on
Pakistan
(MoP),
a
largely
unknown
political
party,
claimed
the
campaign.
"Jaane
ki
baatein
ho
gayee
puraani,
khuda
ke
liye
ab
ajao
(talk
of
leaving
office
is
old
now
for
God's
sake
appear
on
the
scene
now),"
read
the
posters.
Times
of
India,
July
13,
2016.

Terrorism
dwindled
in
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
from
January
to
June:
There
has
been
a
considerable
decrease
in
incidents
of
terrorism
from
January
to
June
in
Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa
(KP).
IED
attacks
and
firing
incidents
have
also
dwindled
during
this
period.
This
was
said
by
the
Counter-Terrorism
Department
(CTD)
Additional
Inspector
General
of
Police
(IGP)
while
addressing
a
meeting
of
Police
officials
at
the
Central
Police
Office
on
July
12.
According
to
a
handout
issued
on
the
same
day,
the
meeting
was
chaired
by
IGP
Nasir
Khan
Durrani.
The
moot
was
held
to
review
efforts
taken
to
combat
terrorism.
During
the
year,
there
were
99
terrorism
incidents,
whereas
the
number
of
terrorism
incidents
reported
in
2013,
2014
and
2015
were
281,
292
and
134,
respectively.
Tribune,
July
13,
2016.

SRI
LANKA

UN
asks
Sri
Lanka
to
follow
agreements
with
international
community
to
ensure
accountability
for
human
rights
abuses
during
decades-long
armed
conflict:
United
Nations
(UN)
on
July
12
asked
Sri
Lanka
to
follow
its
agreements
with
the
international
community
to
ensure
accountability
for
the
human
rights
abuses
during
the
decades-long
armed
conflict.
Responding
to
a
media
question
at
daily
press
briefing
in
New
York,
Stéphane
Dujarric,
spokesman
for
the
UN
Secretary-General
said
the
UN
expects
Sri
Lanka
to
follow
the
commitments
it
made
to
the
international
community.
Colombo Page,
July
13,
2016.

The South
Asia Intelligence Review (SAIR) is a weekly service that
brings you regular data, assessments and news briefs on
terrorism, insurgencies and sub-conventional warfare, on
counter-terrorism responses and policies, as well as on
related economic, political, and social issues, in the South
Asian region.